No rain this morning!! Cloudy and still cool. Kent made a run for more groceries as Janie and Sheila finished up laundry. Eric brought over a boot dryer. Janie's are dry, so hoping Jeff's can get dry as still very wet from the ATV run.
Kent made breakfast and we mapped out the day with the goal to get to Bryson Trailhead and view Portage Lake and take a trip on the cruise.
The drive down was a little rainy and we came across the construction this time. Past Girdwood we found the exit to Portage Lake and Byron Glacier Trailhead.
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| Map of Today's locations |
We hiked Bryson Glacier 2.8 round trip. Bryson Glacier by boat was an option we passed on. The glacier has receded off the lake and does not produce any calving of ice. Much more beautiful than our pictures show below.
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| Hiking to Byron Glacier |
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| Blue Ice |
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| Kent and Jeff |
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| Jeff navigating the mountain stream |
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| Sheila get cozy with Smokey the Bear |
After the Byron Glacier, we stopped at the visitor center and watched a 20-minute movie on glaciers and Alaska. After the movie the screen raised
and curtains opened to a full window view of the lake outside. The receptionist really helped us understand the Glacier cruise options from Whittier and Seward where they take you to several glaciers still reaching the water. The largest Columbia glacier is accessible from Valdez.
Then we trekked to Whittier through the tunnel 2.5 miles. $13 round trip. One-way traffic so waited for the 1:30 opening. Arrived in Whittier and ate lunch at the Inn at Whittier. Old quaint hotel on the water. Great view from the table. Halibut and Cod fish and chips. Salmon Burger and Cheese Burger. Alaska Amber for Jeff. Yum.
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| The Inn at Whittier - Lunch Stop |
No houses in Whittier. Some residents live in old barracks, some apartments or above their business. Seasonal work April to October. The Alaska RR owns all the land. 300 residents during winter and 3k during the season. There is a Salmon Cannery there, so almost all the activity is fishing and summer visitors along with Salmon!
After lunch, we hiked the Emerald Cove Trail starting just outside Whittier. This was the muddiest trail through blueberry and salmonberry bushes, trees, and lots of little water streams. We watch a couple of families with their kids hunting berries. No fear at all in climbing into the bushes. For us, we didn't have the right footwear for this path and opted to bail going the whole way after hiking in about 20 minutes.
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| Kids picking berries |
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| Salmonberries |
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| Blueberries |
The barrack in the first picture below was damaged in the earthquake and with Asbestos, the government decided to let stand in place. The pink, white and blue building below is where 90% of the population lives during the season.
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| Earthquake damaged Barack Building |
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| Where 90% of summer residence live |
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| Whittier on way back from hike |
Stopped for ice cream!! Sheila and Janie did some shopping at a few gift shops. The whole town only has a few shops and restaurants. All focused on the summer business.
After the hike, we head back through the tunnel towards Anchorage with a stop at the grocery store for soup and other supplies. The plan is to take time to go see Maverick/Top Gun tomorrow, so cranked up the original for the evening.
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